News has now emerged that the widely reported death of a young girl who died on Sunday at 11am at Gorleston beach was due to an over pressurised sealed inflatable trampoline that ruptured, not a bouncy castle as initially thought.
3-year-old Ava-May died after apparently being thrown from the inflatable trampoline on a beach, Norfolk police have said.
The incident occurred at about 11am on Sunday at Gorleston beach. Members of the public and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution rushed to save the girl, who suffered serious injuries. East of England ambulance service (EEAST) said “She was taken to the James Paget hospital but later died from her injuries.”
Conservative MP Robert Halfon rushed to call for action to ban bouncy castles, but it later emerged that the incident occurred on an inflatable trampoline which is operationally and structurally different to a bouncy castle.
Statistics provided by the Bouncy Castle Network, who provide booking solutions to over 2500 bouncy castle hirers in the UK, stated that over 10,000 hires were delivered that day across the country without incident, and annually over 500,000 bouncy castle and inflatables are hired out safely, mostly at the weekends.
Eddie Daniels, managing director of Bouncy Castle Network, said: “The death of Ava-May is tragic and our deepest condolences go to her family from our entire team.”
Mr Daniels, who formerly worked as a bouncy castle and inflatable equipment operator for over 20 years, said: “Although facts are still emerging, it’s imperative that the public understand that this was not a bouncy castle. Bouncy castles use constant airflow – they have a fan which must be left on to inflate the castle, with air escaping through the seams.
“This means it is impossible for an incident like this to happen on a bouncy castle. The product in question was a sealed inflatable trampoline, which is inflated and then plugged so the air cannot escape. Calling for a ban against an Inaccurately reporting incident would affect thousands of people’s livelihoods and could close countless small businesses who operate in a professional and safe manner.
Supt Roger Wiltshire, the Great Yarmouth district commander for Norfolk Police, described the death of the girl as “an unspeakable tragedy”.
Responding to political calls for a temporary ban on bouncy castles in public areas
He said: “I have spent many hours myself watching my kids on bouncy castles jumping up and down. There are thousands of pieces of inflatable equipment across the country which come out at schools, fetes and other events.” adding that “Every parent will have to make their own decision about them.”
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